The manufacture and fabrication of tubular articles of thermoplastic materials such as collapsible tubes are known and U.S. Pat. No. 2,673,374 to Strahm discloses a method of manufacturing a tubular product in which a thin-walled plastic tube is formed and a shoulder and screw-threaded cylindrical part affixed thereto by injection molding thereby forming a tubular plastic article with a headpiece. An improvement to the Strahm patent was U.S. Pat. No. 3,172,571 to Marchak in which a tubular body for a collapsible tube is formed of a laminated construction having an intermediate layer that is impervious to the contents of the tube while recognizing that some loss of moisture or product contents of the tube could take place through the plastic head. Marchak further stated that losses were held to a minimum because of the relatively thick plastic head. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,565,293 applicant had constructed a collapsible dispensing container with a deformable body of low permeability and laminated construction, a thermoplastic headpiece, and an insert disc in the form of a barrier member that substantially eliminates product losses and which is spaced from the inner wall of the collapsible tube. The headpiece is provided with an annular lip underlying the peripheral edge of the barrier member. Another prior art construction is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,832,964 to Rockefeller in which an inner head element is shown having a cylindrical skirt and an external annular flange. The disclosure in the Rockerfeller patent states that the outer periphery of the flange has a diameter slightly less than the diameter of the outer periphery of the skirt.
The present invention relates to a collapsible tube of the dispensing type and a method of making the same wherein higher pressures are built up thereby resulting in a reduced temperature and a faster fabricating cycle.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a tube and headpiece construction for a collapsible tube in which a better bond is achieved.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a collapsible tube construction which substantially eliminates blowby of the plastic materials utilized in the manufacture thereof.
It is an object of the present invention to have the ability to use low density polyethylene for the material or other suitable materials of the headpiece tube because of the ability to use higher pressures and thereby lower temperatures.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a barrier member insert for the headpiece which extends to and tightly abuts the adjacent inner wall of the collapsible tube.